Hydrogeochemical evolution and assessment of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation purposes in the Gushegu Municipality and some parts of East Mamprusi District, Ghana

The Gushegu Municipality and the East Mamprusi District in Ghana are dominated by the Oti/Pendjari Group within the Voltaian Supergroup. The major rock types found in the area are quartzites, siltstones, conglomerates, and shales with minor occurrences of tillites, silexites, limestones, and barite-rich dolomites. The inhabitants of the area are mainly peasant farmers, and their activities might be influencing the groundwater chemistry, but little is known about the quality of the groundwater. Therefore, this study evaluated the suitability of groundwater resources in the Gushegu Municipality, and some parts of the East Mamprusi District in Ghana for domestic and irrigation uses, employing hydrogeochemical graphing, geochemical modelling, multivariate statistical analysis, and computation of water quality indices. Sodium (Na⁺), with concentrations ranging from 4.93 to 323 mg/L and a mean of 169 mg/L, is found to be the major cation in the groundwater, while bicarbonate (HCO₃^-), with concentrations ranging from 19.9 to 685 mg/L and a mean of 397 mg/L, is the major anion in the area. The dominant hydrochemical facies is the Na-HCO3 type, accounting for about 72.7% of the study area's groundwater and is influenced by silicate weathering, carbonate mineral dissolution, and ion exchange reactions. Other factors accounting for this dominance may be anthropogenic activities, including the dissolution and leaching of fertilizers from farmlands. Overall, this study reveals that the groundwater in the area is suitable for drinking based on the WQI classification. There are localized contaminations with respect to B and F^-, making the water in those areas unsuitable for drinking. Also, the groundwater in the area is unsuitable for irrigation purposes due to the high Na% values (43 to 99% with a mean of 86%), magnesium hazard values (1 to 312 with a mean of 88), and sodium adsorption ratio (0.57 to 42.4 with a mean of 12.7). All these indices exceed their respective standards for irrigation purposes.

The effect of social behavior change communication package on maternal knowledge in obstetric danger signs among mothers in East Mamprusi District of Ghana

Background

An understanding of maternal knowledge of the danger signs of obstetric and newborn complications is fundamental to attaining universal health coverage. In Northern Ghana, where maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality is high, little is known about the current knowledge level and associated determinants of these danger signs. This study assessed the effect of social behavior change communication (SBCC) package on knowledge of obstetric and newborn danger signs among mothers with children under 24 months of age.

Methods

This study used a non-randomized controlled community-based intervention design with pre and post-intervention household surveys in the intervention and comparison communities of the East Mamprusi District in Ghana. The study population were selected using a two-stage cluster sampling procedure.

Result

Only 521 (51.1%), 300 (29.4%) and 353 (34.6%) of the study participants knew at least three key danger signs during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period respectively.

The intervention had a positive effect on maternal knowledge of danger signs. Compared to their counterparts in the comparison communities, women in the intervention communities were about 2.6 times (AOR  =  2. 58 [CI: 1.87, 3.57]), 3.4 times (AOR  =  3.39 [CI: 2.31, 4.96]) and 2.2 times (AOR  =  2.19 [CI: 1.68, 2.84]) more likely to have higher knowledge of danger signs of childbirth, postpartum and neonate, respectively.

Having sought postnatal services at least once was significantly associated with the mentioning of at least three danger signs of postpartum (AOR  =  3.90 [CI: 2.01, 7.58]) and childbirth (AOR  =  1.75 [CI: 1.06, 2.85]).

Conclusion

There was a significant contribution of social and behavioral change communication as an intervention to maternal knowledge in obstetric danger signs after adjusting for confounding factors such as antenatal and post-natal care attendance. Therefore, provision of information, education and communication targeting women on danger signs of pregnancy and childbirth and associated factors would be an important step towards attaining universal health coverage.